By Adam Beam - AP
SACRAMENTO, California - Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Saturday requiring California to house transgender inmates in prisons based on their gender identity, but only if the state has "no management or security".
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation houses men and women in separate facilities.
Transgender inmates are often housed based on the sex they were assigned at birth.
Activists say this practice is dangerous, particularly for transgender women housed in men's facilities.
The law Newsom signed on Saturday says officers must ask inmates privately during the admission process whether they identify as transgender, non-binary or intersex
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Those inmates can then request to be placed in a facility that houses men or women.
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The law says the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation cannot deny such requests solely because of the inmates' anatomy, sexual orientation, or "a factor present" among other inmates in the facility.
But the state can deny such requests if it has "security or management concerns
.
"
If a request is denied, the state must provide the inmate with a written statement explaining why the decision was made and provide a “significant opportunity” to object.
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Senator Scott Wiener, the San Francisco Democrat who drafted the bill, said he doesn't expect that exception to be used very often.
"It's just a false narrative about transgender people and about transgender women in particular, saying that somehow they are not really women and are just trying to get into women's toilets or facilities to do bad things. Most of the women people who are being victimized are trans people, "argued Wiener.
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At any time, if inmates raise concerns about their health or safety, the law says the state must reevaluate where they are housed.
“It means a lot to me and my sisters,” said Michelle Calvin, a transgender woman incarcerated at Mule Creek State Prison who recently called a press conference on the bill.
“I have been 15 years.
I've been through abuse, I've been through disrespect from staff who don't address me for who I am, because I'm a woman. "
Connecticut passed a similar law in 2018. Rhode Island, New York City and Massachusetts have also housed inmates based on their gender identity.
The law also requires officers to address transgender inmates based on pronouns of their choice
.
And it requires officers to search inmates according to their gender identity search policy.
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The law was one of several related to the LGBT community that Newsom signed into law on Saturday.
He signed another one written by Wiener that requires local public health officials to better track how diseases are affecting the LGBT community.
She also signed a rule written by state senator Lena González to prohibit life and disability insurance companies from denying coverage solely because someone is HIV positive.
Another regulation signed by the governor and written by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago establishes a Transgender Equity and Welfare Fund to award grants to organizations that support the transgender community.
